This page is dedicated to the care and feeding of the neonatal puppy, those little puppies that need that "extra" bit of care and help to get a good start in life.
All of  our information is from years of experience, research and applying these techniques and advice. However this is not meant to replace the necessity of veterinary care, or proper medical attention. It is our hope that by sharing our own experiences in raising a newborn chihuahua, that perhaps we may help some of these little ones get a good firm beginning on a long happy, healthy life.

Here are some helpful hints and tips that have worked well for us through the years.
One important fact that is often overlooked is that a puppy needs a nice warm, clean,
draft free environment. Remember this puppy came from a 101-102 degree environment.
What may seem comfortable to you is probably much too cool for your newborn puppy.
We keep our new moms in solid crates to ensure that it is draft free.  If you cover the crate the puppies are generally kept nice and warm by the moms body heat. If there is still a question you may use a heating pad under one half of the crate, kept on the lowest setting.
If you use a heating pad, please make sure that the puppies can get away from the heat source in case they get too warm.
Our first little hand raised guy was Stuart Little. Stuart weighed a mere one ounce, he was the tiniest little guy. We began feeding him every two hours, but soon found that this just wasn't enough, so we fed him every hour and a half around the clock. Eventually we were able to extend this to every two hours , then three, etc, but this was a very long process that took weeks.  At birth Stuart did not have a very good sucking reflex, so we assisted him by  feeding  him with a 3cc syringe with a tiny Just Born nipple on it. This can be a very dangerous way to feed, you have to use extreme caution not to force too much milk too fast, I cannot stress this enough. You can cause aspiration pnuemonia, which can result in death, so please, go very very slow, and use caution.
It was also a hard task to keep Stuart warm enough. Because we were feeding him every hour and a half we were able to keep Stuart warm by filling rubber gloves with water,
heating them and wrapping them in hand towels. Stuart would climb up on them and keep toasty warm in between feedings.
Stuart did reach a period where he refused to eat and I had to tube feed him. When feeding a puppy you determine how much to feed according to their body weight. Stuart weighed one ounce and started with 1cc of formula,  4 ounces would be 4 cc, etc. Very simple.
We use a digital postal scale to get a correct weight. It is important to weigh your puppy regularly to keep track of how they are doing, if they start losing weight you will know that you may have to make some adjustments, either in the amount you are feeding or the feeding schedule itself.
A hand raised puppy often becomes dehydrated. You can easily check this by pulling up
the skin on the puppies back. If the skin springs back right away the puppy is properly
hydrated, but if the skin stays in a tentlike position and is slow to spring back to the body
the puppy is probably dehydrated. This can also be a life threatening situation.
You can give fluids sub q but this is best left to your veterinarian, unless you have experience in doing this.
A puppy also has to be helped to urinate and defecate after feeding, this is very important
By gently rubbing the genital areas with a warm damp cotton ball this should stimulate the puppy as its Mom would. You can also hold the pups rear end under luke warm running water to stimulate it, but do not put it up wet or damp, this could cause chilling.
A chilled puppy will not eat and cannot digest its milk when chilled.
To date we have successfully hand raised several little ones,  it does require a total dedication, for weeks this is all you will do. Sleep becomes a thing of the past. The end results are not always successful no matter how hard you tried, the puppy has to have
the will to survive too. I cannot put into words the joy that you feel seeing these pups thrive and grow with your help and nurturing.
We hope that this page helped answer any questions you may have had, and please don't
hesitate to email us with any questions you may have.
We feed a home made formula that we have had complete  success with. I can't recommend anything any better than this :

Home made Milk Replacer :
This formula is the best, it will last 7-10 days in the refridgerator.
1 can 16 ounces evaporated milk
2 cups water
1 cup whole milk yogurt (not non fat or low fat)
1 tblspn white Karo syrup
1 tblspn  mayonnaise
1-2 egg yolks
Mix well in blender, keep refridgerated. Moms love this formula also.

We wish you the best of luck with you new puppies .



Stuart Little
Toyvilles Stevie Wunder